JP2002331270A - Card washer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card washer, which can increases detergency by sticking a cleaning liquid to a card sufficiently, prevent a washed-away stain from being transferred to a card that is subsequently washed, remove moisture from the washed card surely, and can be miniaturized. SOLUTION: This card washer is provided with a hopper 22 that can accommodate a plurality of cards-to-be-washed, a stacker 24 that can accommodate a plurality of washed cards, a brush 32 that is driven for washing the cards, a first conveying means that feeds a sheet of card in the hopper 22 at a time to a position where the brush is installed, a cleaning liquid jetting means 44 that jets the cleaning liquid toward the brush 32 and/or the card, a scraping-off means 36 that scrapes off the cleaning liquid, etc., stuck to the card that has passed through the brush 32, and a second conveying means 34 that conveys the cards, which have been fed by the first conveying means 30, to the stacker 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a card washer for cleaning cards such as IC cards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, IC cards have become widely available. An IC card is superior in security and the like as compared with a conventional magnetic card, but because it is expensive, a card that is no longer used is collected and reused. For reuse, it is necessary to remove dirt attached to the card, but a card washing machine for automatically washing the card without manual operation has been known.

As an example of a conventional card washing machine, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 136068/1998 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-85685 will be briefly described. In a conventional card washing machine, a hopper for storing a card to be washed is provided above a container, and a plurality of transport rollers and a plurality of washing rollers are provided from the hopper to the card outlet. The cleaning roller is porous, and the cleaning liquid is transmitted from the cleaning container storing the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller via a plurality of rollers. The card that has passed through the cleaning roller is cleaned by the cleaning liquid.

A conventional card washing machine is provided with a drying heat roller for drying the card that has passed through the washing roller. A halogen lamp serving as a heat source is provided in the heat roller. The card that has passed through the heat roller is dried and stored in the card receiving section.

[0005]

According to the conventional card washer described above, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the porous cleaning roller via a plurality of rollers, so that the cleaning roller is sufficiently supplied with the cleaning liquid. And the cleaning power of the card is weak. Another problem is that when cleaning is performed with a porous cleaning roller, dirt on the card enters the holes of the cleaning roller, and the dirt that has entered the cleaning roller is transferred to the next card to be cleaned. there were. If the dirt enters the porous cleaning roller, there is no means for removing the dirt from the roller, so that the card cannot be cleaned at all.

Further, according to the conventional card washing machine, a heat roller for drying the card is provided. However, the moisture on the card does not evaporate immediately by merely passing the card through a high-temperature roller, and the card gets wet. There was a problem that it was easy to stay. On the other hand, if the temperature of the heat roller is further increased to ensure evaporation of water, the card may be deformed or, if the card is an IC card, may adversely affect the IC. However, there has been a problem that a configuration capable of surely removing water has been desired. In addition, there is a problem that the provision of the heat roller complicates and enlarges the entire apparatus.

Further, in the conventional card washing machine, since the card is dried by the heat roller, the washing liquid gradually decreases, and it is necessary to supply the reduced washing liquid. As described above, since the cleaning liquid has to be additionally replenished, there is a problem in that it takes additional time and effort and the cost of the additional cleaning liquid also increases.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to make a cleaning liquid sufficiently adhere to a card so as to increase the cleaning power, and to remove the fallen dirt. It is an object of the present invention to provide a card washing machine which can prevent transfer to a card, can surely remove water from a washed card, and can be reduced in size.

[0009]

The present invention has the following arrangement to achieve the above object. That is, according to the card washing machine of the present invention, a hopper capable of storing a plurality of cards to be cleaned, a stacker capable of storing a plurality of cards after cleaning, and a brush driven to clean the cards, First conveying means for feeding cards in the hopper one by one to a position where the brush is provided, cleaning liquid jetting means for jetting a cleaning liquid toward the brush and / or card, and a card passing through the brush. It is characterized by comprising a scraping means for scraping off the attached cleaning liquid and the like, and a second transport means for transporting the card sent by the first transport means to the stacker. By employing this configuration, the cleaning liquid is directly sprayed onto the brush and / or card, so that the cleaning power can be increased without running out of the cleaning liquid.
In addition, since the brush is not porous, there is no possibility that dirt gets into the brush and the dirt is not transferred to the next card. Further, the scraping means can surely remove the cleaning liquid and the like on the card, and can make the card after the cleaning completely dry. Since such a configuration does not employ a complicated structure such as a heat roller, the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced. Further, since the scraping means directly touches the card, not only moisture but also dirt and the like which cannot be completely cleaned by the cleaning means can be removed.

Further, the hopper and the stacker are provided such that the hopper is located below and the stacker is located above. The first transporting means and the second transporting means are arranged such that the surface of the card extends in a vertical direction. It is a brush roller that conveys the card upward from below, sandwiched from both sides so as to face. According to this configuration, the card is transported from bottom to top. Then, the sprayed cleaning liquid flows down on the card to be conveyed downward, and the cleaning liquid easily spreads over the entire card.
In addition, when a plurality of cards are continuously washed, they are washed at first with a slightly dirty washing liquid flowing from above, and as they are transported upward, they are rinsed and washed with a clean washing liquid. Dirt can be more effectively cleaned.

[0011] The brush is a brush roller that rotates while sandwiching the surface of the card from both sides.
Both sides of the card can be reliably washed. further,
A storage tank for storing the cleaning liquid is provided at a position below the brush, and the storage tank is provided with an opening for collecting the cleaning liquid that has fallen after cleaning. The cleaning liquid ejected from the ejection means and flowing down from the card or brush and the cleaning liquid scraped off by the scraping means also fall into the storage tank, so that all the cleaning liquid used for cleaning can be reused. Further, it is characterized in that the pump is provided so as to be able to suck up the washing liquid from the storage tank, and is provided with a pump for injecting the washing liquid sucked up from the storage tank. By adopting this configuration, the cleaning liquid is circulated and reused, so that the cleaning liquid does not decrease, so that it is possible to save the trouble of operations such as adding the cleaning liquid and to reduce the cost for the additional cleaning liquid. .

When the pressing force of the brush against the card is adjustable, the card can be reliably cleaned according to the degree of card contamination and the difference in card thickness. Further, the scraping means may be a rubber plate-shaped body disposed at a position where the card has passed through the brush and in contact with both sides of the card.
The rubber plate is in contact with both sides of the card, so that the cleaning liquid and the like can be reliably dropped to form a dry card. Further, the transport rollers of the second transport means are provided so as to have a higher rotation speed than the transport rollers of the first transport means, so that the interval between the cards sent from the hopper can be sufficiently increased. Can be empty. For this reason,
The cards can be prevented from overlapping each other, and the cards can be reliably washed one by one.

[0013]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the entire card washer. First, the overall structure of the card washer of the present embodiment will be described. Card washer 2
0 is the hopper 22, the stacker 24, and the hopper 22
And a main body 21 to which a stacker 24 is attached, and a main body 2
And a base 25 provided at a lower portion of the base 1. The reference numeral is the main body 21. In the main body 21, a brush roller (to be described later) for cleaning the card 18, which will be described later, and the like are provided. The main body 21 is erected on a base 25 to which legs 26 are attached. A storage tank for storing the cleaning liquid is provided in the base 25 (described later).

At the lower part of the main body 21, a card 1 to be washed is provided.
A hopper 22 capable of storing the hopper 8 is provided. The hopper 22 is formed so as to have a U-shaped cross section with the upper part opened. The hopper 22 protrudes forward from the lower part of the main body 21, and is provided such that the tip end is slightly upward. The card 18 is accommodated in the hopper 22 such that the surface of the card 18 faces vertically. Since the hopper 22 is inclined as described above, the card 18 accommodated in the hopper 22 is heavier on the side located on the main body 21 side. When the card is stored in the main body 21, the entire card naturally moves to the main body 21 side and is stored in the main body 21 sequentially from the card 18 on the main body 21 side.

At the top of the main body 21, there is provided a stacker 24 for storing the cards after cleaning. Stacker 24
Similarly, the hopper 22 is formed so as to have a U-shaped cross section with the upper part opened. Also, the stacker 24
Is provided so as to protrude forward from the main body 21, and is provided such that a tip end thereof is slightly upward. The card 18 is also stored in the stacker 24 such that the surface of the card 18 is oriented vertically.

Next, the structure inside the main body will be described with reference to FIGS. Main body side end 22 of hopper 22
a first transport roller 30 for removing the card 18 from the hopper 22, a brush roller 32 for cleaning the card 18, and the card 18 removed from the hopper 22. A second transport roller 34 that transports the paper through the brush roller 32 to the stacker 24, and a plate-shaped body 36 that scrapes off water and the like on the card surface are provided.

The first transport rollers 30 are provided at two places in contact with the surface of the card 18 located at the main body side end 22a of the hopper 22. Such a first transport roller 30
Is a rubber roller provided so that its surface is in contact with the card 18 located at the main body side end 22a of the hopper 22. The first transport roller 30 is driven by a belt 39 wrapped around a motor 38 and the like. The rotation axis of the first transport roller 30 is provided so as to face in a horizontal direction so as to transport the card 18 upward. The first transport roller 30 is not provided so as to sandwich the card and contact the front and back surfaces of the card, but only contacts the main body side surface of the card 18 stored in the hopper 22.

The second transport roller 34 includes a main body side end 22a of the hopper 22 and a main body side end 24a of the stacker 24.
And a plurality of rubber rollers provided between the rollers.
Specifically, the second transport roller 34 includes a first transport roller 34 a provided above the first transport roller 30 for feeding the card 18 taken out of the hopper 22 to the brush roller 32, and a first transport roller 34 a. A position 34b where the card 18 coming out of the brush roller 32a is sent to the next brush roller 32b.
And a position 34c for sending the card 18 from the next brush roller 32b to the stacker 24. The second transport roller 34 is used for the card 1
8 so that it can be transported with the
8 are arranged on both sides in the transport direction.

All of the plurality of sets of the second transport rollers 34 are provided so that the rotation speed thereof is higher than that of the first transport rollers 30. For this reason, even if the cards 18 located at the main body side end 22 a among the cards 18 stored in the hopper 22 are sequentially transported upward by the rotation of the first transport roller 30, The second transport roller 34 can transport the card 18 transported by the first transport roller 30 with an interval between the cards.

The brush roller 32 in the present embodiment is
Two sets are provided at a position immediately above the first provided second transport roller 34a and at a position further above the second transport roller 34b. These brush rollers 32
The a and 32b are provided as a set of two so as to sandwich the card 18 and come into contact with both sides, and are provided so that the pressing force for sandwiching the card 18 can be adjusted. The brush rollers 32a and 32b are each formed in a roller shape, and are driven to rotate around an axis extending in the horizontal direction by the drive of the motor 38 being transmitted.

As a scraping means for scraping the cleaning liquid from the card 18, a plurality of sets of rubber plate-like bodies (same shape as a wiper blade) 36 are provided. The plate-like body 36 has a substantially triangular cross section, and is formed so as to gradually become thinner toward the front end side in contact with the card 18. The plate-like body 36 is formed as a set of two pieces so as to be in contact with both sides of the card 18, and the card 1
8 are provided on both front and back sides.

The specific position where the plate-like body 36 is provided is as follows.
A plurality of sets (36a) are provided above the brush roller 32a, and a plurality of sets (36b) are provided above the brush roller 32b. In addition, there are more plate-shaped members 36 provided above the brush roller 32b than above the brush roller 32a. This is for surely removing the moisture before storing the card 18 in the stacker 24.

The plate-like body 36 is not provided so that its leading end is orthogonal to the carrying direction of the card 18, but is provided such that the leading end is slightly inclined in the carrying direction (upward). . Therefore, even when the card 18 is transported upward, the transport can be performed smoothly. Further, the plate-like body 36 is
By providing the cleaning liquid immediately above the cleaning roller 18, the cleaning liquid has a function of shutting off the cleaning liquid so as to prevent the cleaning liquid splashed or flying by the brush roller 32 from adhering to the cleaned card 18 again.

The cleaning liquid jetting means for jetting the cleaning liquid will be described. The cleaning liquid is sucked up by a pump 42 from a cleaning liquid tank 40 arranged in the base, and is jetted from jet nozzles 44 provided at two places. The position of each injection nozzle 44 is determined by two brush rollers 32a and 32b.
Is provided immediately above each of the. If the cleaning liquid is sprayed at this position, the cleaning liquid sprayed on the card 18 is
After flowing down the card 18 and flowing down, it reaches the brush roller 32 and the brush roller can contain the cleaning liquid. In this case, the spray nozzle 44 may spray the cleaning liquid not only on the card 18 but also on the brush roller 32, or may be sprayed only on the brush roller 32 without being sprayed on the card 18. Good. In addition, the injection does not necessarily have to be performed in a vigorous manner.

An opening 46 is provided on the upper surface of the cleaning liquid tank 40 at a position where the brush roller 32 is provided and the cleaning is performed, so that the cleaning liquid after cleaning can be dropped into the cleaning liquid tank 40. it can. After the cleaning, the cleaning liquid falls along the card 18 and the transport rollers 30, 34 and the like. The opening 4 of the cleaning liquid tank 40 is also provided.
A filter 48 for collecting attached matter is attached to 6 so that dust and the like after washing do not enter the washing liquid tank 40.

Hereinafter, the operation of the card washer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, when an operator turns on a power switch (not shown), the pump and the motor 3 are turned on.
8 is driven, and each of the transport rollers and the brush roller starts rotating. Of the cards 18 stored in the hopper 22, the card located at the main body side end 22a is transported upward by the first transport roller 30 while the surface thereof is oriented vertically.

The main body side end 22a in the hopper 22
Is transported upward by the first transport roller 30, the card 18 stored in the hopper 22 moves down to the main body side with the inclination of the hopper 22. Then, the card 18 newly positioned at the main body side end portion 22a comes into contact with the first transport roller 30 and is transported upward. Thus, the first transport roller 30 transports the cards 18 in the hopper 22 one after another.

The card 18 transported by the first transport roller 30 is sent to the brush roller 32a by the second transport roller 34a. The card 18 cleaned by the brush roller 32a exits upward from the brush roller 32a and is sandwiched between the plate-like members 36a. The plate-like body 36a is
A plurality of sets are provided alternately with the transfer rollers 34b of the above, and the attached cleaning liquid and dirt are scraped off.

The card 18 is sent to the brush roller 32b by the second transport roller 34b. The card 18 cleaned by the brush roller 32b exits upward from the brush roller 32b and is sandwiched between the plate-like bodies 36b. A plurality of plate-like members 36b are provided alternately with the second transport rollers 34c to scrape off the attached cleaning liquid, dirt, and the like. The card 18 thus has two sets of brush rollers 32.
a, 32b.

When the card 18 passes through a portion where three sets of the plate-shaped members 36b are provided continuously, the attached cleaning liquid and dirt are completely removed, and the second transport roller 34
and is stored in the stacker 24 by c. The cleaned card 18 is inserted into the main body side end 24a of the stacker 24.
Further, a holding roller 41 that rotates freely is provided in order to reliably store the stacker 24 in accordance with the inclination of the stacker 24.

Although the brush roller of the above-described embodiment has only two sets, only one set may be provided.
Three or more sets may be provided. In addition, the number of the second transport rollers 34, the number of the plate-shaped members 36, and the like are not limited to this embodiment.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Of course.

[0033]

According to the card washing machine of the present invention, since the cleaning liquid is directly sprayed onto the brush and / or the card, the cleaning power can be increased without running out of the cleaning liquid, and the reliable cleaning can be achieved. Done. In addition, since the brush is not porous, there is no possibility that dirt gets into the brush and the dirt is not transferred to the next card. Further, the scraping means can surely remove the cleaning liquid and the like on the card, and can make the card after the cleaning completely dry. Since such a configuration does not employ a complicated structure such as a heat roller, the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced. Further, since the scraping means directly touches the card, not only moisture but also dirt and the like which cannot be completely cleaned by the cleaning means can be removed.

The hopper and the stacker are provided such that the hopper is located below and the stacker is located above.
The transporting means and the second transporting means are rollers for transporting the card upward from below while sandwiching the card from both sides so that the surface of the card is oriented vertically, so that the jetted cleaning liquid is transported. The cleaning solution flows down the card and flows down the entire card, making it easier to spread the cleaning liquid over the entire card. Therefore, only a small amount of the cleaning liquid to be sprayed onto the card or the cleaning means at the time of cleaning is required, and the cost of the cleaning liquid can be reduced. Further, at first, it is washed with a slightly dirty cleaning liquid flowing from above, and when it is transported upward, it is rinsed and washed with a clean cleaning liquid, so that dirt can be more effectively cleaned.

If the brush is a brush roller which rotates while sandwiching the surface of the card from both sides, both sides of the card can be surely cleaned.

Further, a storage tank for storing the cleaning liquid is provided below the brush, and an opening is formed in the storage tank for collecting the dropped cleaning liquid after the cleaning. Therefore, the cleaning liquid used for cleaning can be reused.

Further, if the pump is provided so as to be able to suck up the cleaning liquid from the storage tank and is provided with a pump for injecting the cleaning liquid sucked up from the storage tank, the cleaning liquid is circulated and reused. So
Since the amount of the cleaning liquid hardly decreases, it is possible to save labor for operations such as addition of the cleaning liquid, and it is possible to reduce the cost for the additional cleaning liquid.

The feature that the pressing force of the brush against the card can be adjusted makes it possible to surely remove the stain on the card due to the degree of stain on the card and the difference in the thickness of the card.

Further, the scraping means is a rubber plate-like body arranged at a position where the card has passed through the brush so as to be in contact with both sides of the card.
The cleaning liquid or the like can be dried by firmly adhering to the surface of the card. Further, since the transport rollers of the second transport unit are provided so as to have a higher rotation speed than the transport rollers of the first transport unit, the interval between the cards sent from the hopper during the cleaning is reduced. Can be fully empty. For this reason, it is possible to prevent dirt and the like of other cards from adhering.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of a card washing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the card washer shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from a side.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main body in the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 card washer 21 main body 22 hopper 24 stacker 25 base 26 legs 30 first transport roller 32 brush roller 34 second transport roller 36 plate-like body 38 motor 39 belt 40 cleaning liquid tank 42 pump 44 injection nozzle 46 opening 48 filter

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A hopper capable of storing a plurality of cards to be cleaned, a stacker capable of storing a plurality of cards after cleaning, a brush for driving the cards for cleaning, and a position where the brush is provided A first transporting means for feeding the cards in the hopper one by one, a cleaning liquid spraying means for spraying a cleaning liquid toward the brush and / or the card, and a cleaning liquid and the like adhering to the card passing through the brush. A card washer comprising: a scraping means for dropping; and a second transport means for transporting the card sent by the first transport means to the stacker. 2. The hopper and the stacker are provided such that the hopper is below and the stacker is above, and the first transporting means and the second transporting means are arranged such that a surface of a card extends in a vertical direction. Sandwiched from both sides to face
2. The card washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the roller is a roller that conveys the card upward from below. 3. The card washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the brush is a brush roller that rotates while sandwiching the surface of the card from both sides. 4. A storage tank for storing a cleaning liquid is provided at a position below the brush, and an opening is formed in the storage tank for collecting the cleaning liquid that has fallen after cleaning. The card washer according to claim 2 or 3, wherein 5. The card cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein a pump is provided so as to be able to suck up the cleaning liquid from the storage tank, and a pump for jetting the cleaning liquid sucked up from the storage tank is provided. Machine. 6. The card washer according to claim 1, wherein the pressing force of the brush against the card is adjustable. 7. The scraping device according to claim 1, wherein the scraping means is a rubber plate-shaped member disposed at a position where the card has passed through the brush and in contact with both sides of the card. , 4, 5 or 6. 8. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transport rollers of the second transport unit are provided so as to rotate at a higher speed than the transport rollers of the first transport unit.
The card washer according to 4, 5, 6, or 7.